USU parties take needed precautions
To party or not to party isn’t the question.
With upcoming Utah State University events and recent student parties around campus, the question is what precautions should be taken.
Capt. Eric Collins, an officer in the Community Services Division of Logan City Police, said, “We ask most people who are having parties to notify the neighbors nearby and give them contact numbers to call in case they do get too loud. That way they can solve the problem without bringing the police in.”
Since USU adopted “dry campus” legislation in 1995 that banned drinking on campus and other school-related institutions, such as fraternities, drinking hasn’t been the main problem with parties. The main problem is the noise.
The Logan police usually have to deal with complaints about loud parties about every week or two, Collins said.
“Usually what causes a party to be broken up is a neighbor or someone calls in,” he said. “We give them a warning the first time to turn down the music.”
If further complaints are called in, the party will be shut down, and the person responsible will be cited for a disorderly house. The fine can be anywhere from $200 to $1000, Collins said.
If the party is outside, it is more likely to be broken up.
Jenny Palmer, a senior majoring in elementary education, held a party with her roommates outside in early September. It was broken up by 11 p.m., she said.
“We talked with the neighbors before the party, but the neighbors down the street [who they didn’t talk to before] still complained,” Palmer said. “It was good, clean fun. It’s just that it was outside in our backyard, and it was really loud.”
The noise level before 10:30 p.m. in Logan City cannot be above a certain level of decibels. After 10:30 p.m. any noise can be reported to the police.
“After 10:30 p.m. is when most parties get broken up,” Collins said.
Some weekends are worse than others, especially Rush, Homecoming and Halloween weekends, he said.
Most of the fraternities and sororities notify the police before they hold any party. Many fraternities live on top of the hill by the university, and the noise travels down the hill, possibly disrupting neighbors, Collins said.
Paul Phipps, vice president of Pi Kappa Alpha, said his fraternity has about one or two big parties a semester, and none of them have been broken up by the police.
“During Homecoming we have a really big party, and about 700 people come,” Phipps said.
Brent Miller, Psi Sigma Phi president, said his multicultural fraternity is having a party Friday and expects to have at least 100 people. The fraternity notified neighbors and made sure security is in place, he said.
“I think these parties are good for students to unwind from all the stress of homework throughout the week,” Miller said.
Collins said aside from the noise, underage drinking can be a problem when parties are held independently off campus.
“It’s hard with the freshmen and sophomores that just show up, and it seems like alcohol is just given out freely,” Collins said. “When we arrive at a party and people start to run and hide, that raises some suspicion and we start to ID people.”
If alcohol is being served, each person’s identification should be checked at the door. Hosts assume a great deal of liability if people are drinking at their houses, Collins said.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu